Loss of rental units hits Toronto hardest

The vast majority of the 17,515 rental units lost in the Toronto area
since 1996 are condos, houses and apartments in houses that are no longer
occupied by renters, a senior city planner says.

Nowhere has the loss been greater than in the
City of Toronto
where 10,070
rental units disappeared, said Katherine Chislett, a senior city planner.
The loss in the rental market was highlighted this week in 2001 census
figures.

The city tracks the number of apartment units through its property tax
rolls and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. monitors condominium
construction and occupancy.

The number of apartment buildings has remained about the same, Chislett
said, adding that very few have been demolished or converted to condos due
to the city's strict rental housing protection policies.

But over StatsCan's survey period (1996-2001), 4,095 condo units were
taken off the rental market in Toronto. (Outside the city, the number of
rental condo units dropped by 1,941.)

"The other units could only have been lost from the so-called secondary
market of houses, apartments in houses and duplexes that are rented rather
than owned," Chislett said.

She speculated that low mortgage rates have allowed some former landlords
to carry their mortgages without renting out parts of their house.

Ted Tsiakopoulos, a senior market analyst for CMHC, said the economic boom
in the late 1980s and the recession of the early 1990s left many
speculators with houses and condos they couldn't sell for a profit.
They rented the units until the market improved, which it did around 1996,
he said.

Toronto Councillor Michael Walker said the StatsCan figures prove the city
can't depend on condos and basement apartments to meet the city's rental
housing needs.

"We need to build real rental apartments in Toronto that will remain
rental," he said. "And we need to bring back real rent controls to ensure
these units remain affordable."